In this video tutorial, we show you what to check for if your classic car breaks down out on the road. The aim of this is to give you the skills to spot the basic common breakdown symptoms, remedy them in a logical order and perform a fix good enough to see you home safely in your classic car.

If your classic car grinds to a halt at the side of the road, you at least know that everything was working a minute-or-two ago. Therefore, if you can find the one item that has failed, you can hopefully get the car going again. There are quite a small number of things that will stop a car dead, so following a logical order of investigation should soon have you moving again.

This video starts with making yourself safe and ensuring that by working on the vehicle you are not putting yourself, your passengers or other road users in danger.

We discuss what should be in a modest breakdown tool kit – such as screwdrivers, spanners, pliers, test lamp, tyre lever, spark plug and wrench. You can add a few spares to this, which could be second-hand and might include: contact breakers, condenser, fuses, a length of wire, and a rotor arm. If your classic car has an electronic ignition, consider carrying a spare amplifier module or even the old points distributor in the boot.

Our classic car breakdown drill contains a quick visual check for anything that’s fallen off and then a check for sparks and tests on the ignition system before finally, checking the fuel delivery.

Owning a classic car is a joy and most are reliable enough to be used as everyday transport. This video tutorial will give you hints and tips on what to look at first if you do happen to break down on the side of the road.

In the final class of our course on classic car electrics, Ed teaches you about the ignition system on your car. He discusses the two halves of the ignition system, explains how the system is wired to the rest of a car, and then shows you how to trace faults.

As with most projects in the garage, it’s important to first learn the essential techniques and then challenge yourself on the more complicated scenarios. To help you gain an introductory understanding of classic car electrics, Danny Hopkins and Ed Hughes are here to demonstrate a number of simple car maintenance projects that focus on classic car electrics. With each of the five classes in this course, you’ll discover a new technique that you can implement in your own garage and grow more confident as a classic car restorer.

In the previous class, Ed showed you how to clean the valves and prepare them for reinsertion into the head. Now, you’ll learn how to lap in the valves using grinding paste and then decoke the engine in order to increase its efficiency and ensure top-notch engine performance for another several thousand miles. Ed introduces the tools you need to complete this process and then shows you how to use them.

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